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Since Tucson and Albuquerque both initiated moves to revitalized moribund downtowns in 1999, Albuquerque has surged ahead in amenities, night life and residents, while Tucson remains pretty much as it was.

All this despite Tucson having $100 million Rio Nuevo tax increment financing to work with — now increased to $600 million, something Albuquerque couldn't fall back on.

So how did Albuquerque make its big move? Five possible factors:

Downtown-redevelopment endeavors often spend big money on big projects that don't give a "human face" and a sense of place to downtowns, said Christopher Leinberger, one of Albuquerque's first downtown developers, who is now with the Brookings Institution.

Instead, "it's the small builders" that give downtowns their legitimacy and their buzz, he said.

Christopher Calott, a partner in Infill Solutions, said it was "dead-on" that local builders started driving Albuquerque's redevelopment. But he added that the problem is they still do.

Brian Morris, executive director of the Albuquerque's Downtown Action Team, said the city has gone from only two developers in 1999 to about a dozen now.

Tucson City Manger Mike Hein said his city has been hurt by not having a stable of small developers like Albuquerque does.

The biggest mistake condo developers make is getting "too aggressive on prices," said Vince Garcia, president of the Blue Dot Corp., an Albuquerque condo builder.

Several developers in Albuquerque said that if they can bring in the bulk of their condos in the $175,000 to $275,000 range, they will sell quickly. Albuquerque developments priced higher than that — including the Gold Avenue Lofts and the Banque Lofts — don't do well and are left with vacant units.

Morris said it's those on the edges of trends — the young, the retired, artists and gays — who often come downtown first.

Those young risk-takers who are the first to move downtown often are 27- to 40-year-old singles who can't afford luxurious, high-priced condos, said Brian Cassutt, director of sales and marketing for Infill Solutions.

Because Tucson's Downtown redevelopment stalled and missed the real estate boom that ended in 2005, our city's developers can't sell condos for much less than $400 per square foot — $400,000 for 1,000 square feet, said Jaret Barr of the City Manager's Office. Such prices are beyond the reach of those most likely to gravitate to Downtown.

Garcia said that once you're selling condos for more than two times the area's median home price, "you're not going to sell them."

Tucson often gets ripped for tearing down much of its history.

Part of Albuquerque's resurgence has been in redeveloping existing buildings for new uses, creating a uniqueness and a sense of place for downtown.

Calott, whose company redeveloped a historic building to become the Flying Star Cafe on Silver Avenue, said it was a "big mistake" for Tucson to tear down buildings and not ease the way for their reuse.

Barr added that new construction is so expensive, often the only cost-effective move is to reuse existing buildings.

A monument to restoring historic buildings was developer Rob Dickson's conversion of the former Albuquerque High School in east downtown to lofts and condominiums. The school had been vacant since 1974 and was a community sore spot for years.

"This was dead property for a quarter of a century," Dickson said, adding that there was a collective community sigh of relief when redevelopment started.

Aaron Z. Schor, a 27-year-old involved in the film industry, points out the building's historical railings, stairs and even the gym bleachers have been kept intact. His living there is often a conversation-starter, he said.

Jessica Fillmore, who moved into east downtown, said part of that district's appeal is its history. Fillmore, 32, works for the Amy Biehl Charter School, which is in a redeveloped historical building.

Big tax breaks given by the state of New Mexico have the movie industry booming in Albuquerque, making many young professionals really excited about the city's downtown.

In the past two years, at least parts of the movies "Beerfest," "Wild Hogs," "In the Valley of Elah" and "Transformers" have been shot in downtown Albuquerque, allowing the city to retain some of its young talent with high-paying jobs, said Ann Lerner, director of the Albuquerque Film Office. That's business that once might have come to Tucson, in its heyday as "Hollywood in the desert."

"Albuquerque is like a little Hollywood," said 28-year-old Jonathan Jimenez, who works downtown. "It's blowing up right now."

Schor, who is a key production assistant, moved to Albuquerque from New York to work in the New Mexico city's burgeoning film industry. He says he couldn't be happier.

The cost of living is much lower than in New York, Schor said. And "the quality of life is unbelievable. At 27, I can't believe I have my own place like this and can afford it."

Many said a huge key to sparking Albuquerque's renaissance has been scrapping traditional zoning downtown and going to a code that regulates how buildings are constructed instead of setting rules on usage.

Jay Rembe, a partner in Infill Solutions, said his company couldn't have built the Flying Star Cafe or the Silver Lofts project across the street if the city hadn't waived parking requirements for the restaurant or the height requirements for the lofts.

Following the city's guidelines also ensures a quick process for developers. "I can get a building permit in two weeks," Rembe said.

Richard Dineen, the city's planning director, said the department tries to do a one-stop-shop meeting with developers so they can get all their issues ironed out at once.

"You help people get their things built," Dineen said. "They have a problem; you help them solve it."

Good zoning should "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard," said Leinberger, of the Brookings Institution.

That hasn't been the case in Tucson, where the city hasn't been kind economically or politically to infill developers, Hein said.

He cautioned that similar zoning in Tucson would be politically difficult because of the commitment to protect the character of neighborhoods.